By Jonathan Morales

2023年8月22日

When Sammie Valenze ’22 (Kinesiology) talks with current or potential 萨克拉门托 Republic FC season-ticket holders, one thing is almost guaranteed to light up their faces.

“They want to know more about me, and I'm, like, ‘Oh, I went to 囊状态,’ and they get excited just by that,” she said “It almost creates an immediate bond.”

瓦伦兹是共和足球俱乐部成员体验团队的负责人，是俱乐部聘用的七名博彩平台校友之一，他们毕业于萨克拉门托一所受人尊敬的大学，现在为另一所大学工作。

他们说，成为家乡足球俱乐部的一员让他们感到自豪，成为黄蜂队为他们的成功奠定了基础。

“我的萨克州 education has been so crucial,” said Eira Castillo ’14 (Journalism), the team’s director of digital content and photography. “From the professors who helped me and guided me to where I am, (to) the courses I took that pushed me towards where I ended up.”

萨克拉门托共和国足球俱乐部（萨克拉门托 Republic FC）成立于2014年，是美国职业足球联盟（USL）第二级别联赛的球队。 卡斯蒂略是一名终身球迷，从一开始就和球队在一起。

“Going to 囊状态 and then staying in 萨克拉门托, it helps build those homegrown connections." -- Krystal Jones ’18 (Business Administration)

About when the team was getting off the ground, she was interning at TV station KCRA and had a chance meeting with the Republic’s vice president for marketing. 当卡斯蒂略提到她的目标是在足球领域工作时，她立即得到了一份制作助理的工作。 2016年，她开始为该网站兼职写作。 一年后，她开始全职工作，并一直在俱乐部工作。

Joanna Arismendi ’10 (Economics and International Business) watched Republic FC’s start not from the sidelines but from the stands. She and her now-husband were on their first date when they joined more than 20,000 fans who watched the team’s first game at 萨克拉门托 City College’s Hughes Stadium.

一年前，在金融业工作了十年的阿里斯门迪成为了俱乐部的一名会计。 She said working for what she calls a “symbol of 萨克拉门托 culture” is rewarding.

“I worked for a global company for 10 years before this, and now I get to have my boots on the ground in the city I live in and love. That's huge,” she said. “There's an intrinsic reward there that I didn't really get at my last job.”

尽管为共和国足球俱乐部效力的黄蜂队成员来自不同的背景，在不同的领域工作，但他们几乎都有一个共同点：他们在萨克拉门托长大，热爱自己的家乡。

“I love everything about 萨克拉门托. 所以我这辈子都在这里。 That's why I don't ever want to leave,” said Brad Marsh ’12 (Digital Media), the club’s director of videography. “It means a lot to be working for a team that has their footprint in the city because I have so much love for this city."

马什在萨克拉门托的不同社区长大，小时候经常去萨克州立大学。 他的父亲是一名教授，他和他的兄弟会在父亲上课的时候拍下他们在校园里玩滑板的镜头。

到了上大学的时候，马什知道他想待在离家近一点的地方。 他说，在Sac州立大学，他学会了基本的工具，并建立了推动他职业生涯的人际关系。

“I loved it,” he said. “I made a lot of friends, learned a lot in my classes, (and) developed some really good relationships with teachers that ultimately became references and guided me into where I wanted to go with video production.”

John Jacobs ’07 (Organizational Communication), Republic FC’s vice president of communications, remembers an upper-division media relations class where he and his fellow students were assigned a mock crisis communications situation and asked to develop a statement and run a news conference.

“The things we were asked to do are now a part of my daily and weekly work,” Jacobs said. “That preparation and practice was key for me, and I’ve fallen in love with the work I do.”

For Krystal Jones ’18 (Business Administration), being a 囊状态 alum means taking advantage of connections she made on campus. 琼斯是该俱乐部的伙伴关系激活经理，当有实习机会时，她经常联系她以前的教授。 She also manages the University’s partnership with the team.

“Going to 囊状态 and then staying in 萨克拉门托, it helps build those homegrown connections,” Jones said.

Before transferring to 囊状态 from 萨克拉门托 City College, Jones interned with Golden 1 Credit Union’s community relations department at the same time the Golden 1 Center was opening, and she fell in love with the business side of sports. 毕业后，她在萨克拉门托河猫队工作了四年，然后搬到了共和国FC。

 

"It feels amazing, especially being born and raised here, coming to an organization that really gives back to the community,” she said. “囊状态 gives back a lot as well. It's a really full circle moment.”

去年，她和俱乐部的其他工作人员经历了一些新的事情：当共和国FC成为自2008年以来第一支进入2022年美国公开赛决赛的低级别球队时，代表萨克拉门托出现在全国和全球舞台上。 共和国FC在比赛中击败了美国职业足球大联盟（MLS）的三支顶级球队，但在冠军赛中输给了美国职业足球大联盟球队奥兰多市SC。

萨米·瓦伦泽（Sammie Valenze）回忆说，在北卡罗来纳州的一个机场，她背着自己的共和国队（Republic FC）背包，收到了一些人的祝福，他们认出了这个背包的熊星标志，并说他们在锦标赛中支持萨克拉门托队。

这次历史性的比赛也提高了当地人对球队的认识。

“The spotlight has always kind of been on the Kings,” Valenze said, referring to 萨克拉门托’s NBA franchise. “People know who Sac Republic is, but don't really know anything about them, or if they're good or anything like that. So, I think that last year kind of put our name kind of out there where it's like, hey, we're awesome.”

雅各布斯表示同意。

"Last summer, I was so honored and privileged to show what our city is about during the Open Cup,” he said. “It was thrilling to be at the center of the soccer universe, but it was the highlight of a career to share how incredible 萨克拉门托 is with the world."

就像所有在共和足球俱乐部工作的黄蜂球员一样，雅各布斯很自豪地说他曾就读于萨克州立大学。 他说，自从他毕业以来，随着学校在建筑和声誉方面的发展，他的学位的声望也在提高。

“I'm happy to say that I'm a 囊状态 alum, and I'm excited to see what the future has for the next ones,” Jacobs said. “The University has become this tremendous center of investment and improvement, and I'm grateful for it."